U of M Profs hit the field

Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 7/5/2013 (1311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jane Waterman:Bloemhof, South AfricaPosition: Associate Professor of Biological StudiesStudying: African Ground SquirrelsDetails: Two biology grad students and five undergraduate students left April 29, and Waterman will be joining the team in July, staying until the end of August. The group will look at all aspects of the lives of African ground squirrels. For example, one student will be looking at the immunity and reproduction of the male squirrels by boosting testosterone levels and observing how it affects their immune systems. Waterman said by studying the squirrels they will learn more about the evolution of human social interaction.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD WISKIN

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Haskel Greenfield:Archaeological siteTell es-Safi, IsraelPosition: Professor of AnthropologyStudying: The ancient city of Gath, hometown of GoliathDetails: Greenfield will be travelling to Israel at the beginning of June and his students will join him in July for two months. While digging, they’ll be looking back to what life was like in Gath during the Bronze Age, or 5,000 years ago. More specifically they hope to discover how the ancient city was formed and what life was like in neighbourhoods. The seven-year project is funded by the Canadian government’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and another Israeli team. By the end of the summer Green hopes to have discovered how the settlement was destroyed 4,500 years ago.

Katherine Twaddle:Southern Manitobainner-city schoolsPosition: Opera Studies Co-ordinatorProgram: Performing Angela and Her SistersDetails: Six students in the Opera Studies program will be on the two-week tour involving two performances of the 45-minute children’s opera twice a day. Twaddle said the tour not only teaches young elementary school students about opera, it also teaches her university students how to maintain the same role for a long period of time. The performances are $450 per school but are also funded by the Italian-Canadian foundation in honour of opera singer Tracy Dahl, a Winnipeg native, who teaches in U of M’s Faculty of Music.

Tony Rogge:Bunda District,TanzaniaPosition: Director of the International Centre for StudentsProgram: Teaching Tanzanian students about gender equalityDetails: Three U of M students in the faculties of medicine, social work, and education pay for some of their trip to Africa, but the rest is funded by fundraisers, U of M, and the Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief. The students are not given course credits but a do receive a co-curricular notation that will stay on their transcripts. By the end of the trip in mid-June, Rogge says the goal is for the students to take away additional skills and be able to apply them in a global context.

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